‘Eat more fruits and veggies’ or ‘you are what you eat’- these are generalized statements that many are starting to take seriously today. Personally, I’m a strict vegetarian, part-time vegan (sorry, but pizza needs cheese). But this post isn’t about what to eat or an argument for herbivores versus carnivores, nor is this about statistics, research, or terminology. The plant-based diet revolution is becoming mainstream, and this post is about getting to the root of such trend. And the root of it is simply this: a plant based diet speaks to humanity’s truth, to my original religion of non-violence, to my state of peace.

The Bottom Line
When I eat cautiously and consciously, with the heart and mind fully engaged, I can take care of what’s on my plate and what I’m about to feed my body and how this might affect my surroundings. I’m aware of how I sustain both myself and my environment. Because at the end of the day, my body and my environment both directly affect me as a soul, as a sentient being on earth.

FYI, my journey to how I eat today didn’t happen overnight. Hence my preference for the term ‘plant-based’ (this allows the consumption of animal products but the emphasis and the majority is based on the sustenance from plants). Seven years ago, I liked the idea of becoming a vegan for health and beauty reasons mostly. But it wasn’t easy. Until finally, when I started a more regular meditation practice and began looking at my food from a more spiritual standpoint, that’s when I was able to implement the changes I wanted to make.

For the Love of Food!
I should also make a disclaimer here, I Love Food. I love to cook and I appreciate all the nuances that good food allows to be enjoyed. So I know firsthand what a good piece of rib-eye, or perfectly crunchy bit of bacon, or buttery lobster can do to the senses. I can also appreciate how an animal laden dish can bring about culture and history to one experience of the palate. I also know what it’s like to go through a pregnancy with no control over my body that was just craving dairy and red meats.

So my standpoint on food is, there aren’t really ‘one should eat like this or that’, rather, let’s examine what resonates with me most, let me try and experiment different ways to nourish myself. It’s actually much easier hygiene wise and cheaper to maintain a vegetarian kitchen. Not to mention, a vegetarian plate has more vibrant colors, aromas, and flavors!

Mother Nature’s Gifts
The reality is, to consume animal products for my sustenance, this means raising them in unnatural, challenging conditions and killing them for their products. Unlike plants which don’t squeal when you separate their young from their mothers, nor experience pain when they go through death. Plants are actually quite hearty and giving. They’re mother nature’s unconditional way of giving. Even top chefs recognize that the best pieces of meat come from animals raised happily, ideally, out in the wild, and killed in the least painful way. So unless I can afford such meats on my plate at every meal, think about what had to happen for the products to arrive on my plate and what kind of experiences went into the food I’m about to consume.

Too Much Information? Or Maybe It’s Time We Act On What We Know.
Now, more than ever, many of us are waking up to the idea that perhaps we have tipped the scales in abusing mother nature’s generosity. Perhaps, the many illnesses that plague the suffering of our bodies is from how I sustain it. Do I nourish my body with products that are aligned with my beliefs and my feelings? There’s a primal reason why slaughterhouses have thick walls and little windows.

Do I respect my body enough to be mindful of every piece of food I take in?

Time For A New Era
Yes, eating is habitual, it’s social, and it’s cultural. Eating is also the only act we can assert a more mindful practice on how to sustain these once in a lifetime gifts we’ve received as our bodies. So with all the information we have available to us today, it seems like this trending plant based diet is showing us that there’s a new way we can nourish ourselves, create different habits, socialize more conscientiously, and start a culture with Mother Nature in mind.
Personally, I find this to be quite an exciting time.

What if heaven were true, that it certainly exists, BUT it was up to You to make it happen. Would you accept such a proposition? And what if the only thing you had to do to make heaven exist, here and now, is to accept death and take responsibility for starting anew. You were born to die, and to create heaven, you must die a living death.
This is my first blog after nearly a year of inactivity, and I’m treating this article like my resurrection from the dead. Appropriately, I chose such topic. Also, what better way to start the new year- 2018, the year of love, than with a proposition of heaven.

What IS Heaven?

Firstly, what is it about heaven that’s so enticing? If you’re experiencing any type of sorrow or discontent, or have any unpleasant feelings whatsoever- then heaven is the complete opposite. Some find the state of negativity addicting, it becomes one’s reality for an extended period of time, but certainly, the idea of heaven never eludes anyone. If someone were so deep in their pessimism, what’s the point of suffering at all then?
Every single person knows about heaven, believes it exists, and desperately clings on to its possibility. We all have our own different versions, but indisputably, it is a state of perfection and utter bliss.

For me, 2017 has been a tough year, but thankfully it’s almost over. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, they did. Sound familiar? If so, join the club. If you’ve ever been through a rough time, what got you through it? Yes, sheer grit and determination definitely pulls us through, but what sustains us the most is this subconscious belief that things could be a lot better. This article is about turning such belief into a responsibility – the task to create heaven.

Facing Death

To face death is to have complete surrender and acceptance, not to just the unknown but to all of what you know as well. Facing death both physically and metaphorically actually constitute the same mindset: it’s simply letting go.
Try this: clench your fists so tight, hold it for a moment and then slowly open them up. Experience the sensation as you open your hands up – that’s how it feels to let go, to surrender, and to just accept whatever is.

When we were born into this world, it took a long and slow process to get used to this physical world. I think I’m still getting used to it now in my late thirties (perhaps it’s the adult version of adulterated ‘growing pains’). Then when the death of a loved one or our own death becomes a reality, it takes a huge amount of effort to accept such event. So the idea of ‘dying a living death’ is to have a regular practice of accepting whatever was in the past, is in the present, and will be in the future. It’s also letting go of whatever I hold on to. It’s shedding whatever pains my body may give me, whether it’s expectations from the roles or titles it has accumulated or actual physical illnesses (which I actually believe to be manifestations of what goes on in our minds, especially in the subconscious – but that’s a whole other post!). For example, accepting someone for whatever they have done in the past and whomever they are now or in the future, and letting go as well of whatever expectations I hold on for them. In essence, dying a living death is a process of constant forgiveness (whether you’re forgiving yourself or others) and starting anew (giving yourself or others a clean slate).

Heaven Starts Within You

Once you’ve surrendered yourself to this idea of death and given yourself or all that’s around you a clean slate, you can then start the process of creating heaven. You CAN’T create heaven on a half-assed slate. So if ‘dying a living death’ scares you, it should (!) because heaven requires a complete surrender where you risk it all to this trust that I deserve better and things could be a whole lot better. Let go of it all. Then building heaven will just require baby steps, trials, and errors but with a firm vision for the future. For example, if you’ve ever felt guilty, the path to heaven is a constant process of self-forgiveness and trying a little bit harder next time. If you’ve ever felt angry or hurt, it’s another process of forgiveness and trying to become better from your side of the relationship. How else are we ever going to bring heaven on earth if we don’t start with ourselves and those around us?? Leave the details of heaven’s renewable resources and modes of transportation to scientists and entrepreneurs like Elon Musk. Our only job is to create heaven from within.

Wrapping Up

Forgiveness is the best gift you can give to yourself and others because it also involves looking at the best in others and in the situation. Studies have also proven that forgiveness allows the brain to function at its most relaxed, creative and problem solving state. So if you’re in the crappiest of circumstances, know that it’s the universe forcing you to put your brain at its highest functioning state. Moving forward, never lose hope or sight of better things to come. It’s time we stop praying for heaven and we start creating it for ourselves. It’s time we stop leaving heaven for only those who are actually dead. It’s time we let go of whatever is keeping us from creating paradise on earth. The road may not be easy or straight, but it’s certainly worth the try. I believe in abundance and perfection, many visionaries do too, but we all need each other’s help and now is the best time to start.

Have you ever had a relationship with someone and had the desire they were more than how they present, that they were a better version and the relationship could be perfect? What makes you think you deserve more from others? Do you think this comes from fairy tales you were told as a child or movies you watched as an adult? Personally, I believe we’re much more hardwired than that, and that this desire for a perfect relationship comes from an innate knowing of a very simple truth: I once had a perfect relationship with the most desirable of all beings, and I now deserve to rediscover this. This post is about this perfect relationship with the most perfect of all beings.

Love can move mountains and spark fireworks. It can remove suffering and bestow utter bliss. It’s the ultimate of positive experiences. It’s what stories are made of and what gives life. Yet there’s a huge misunderstanding of what love is and at the same time we assume it’s meaning is universal (no wonder the topic of love can be so frustrating!). This post is about exploring the true meanings of love so we may have a better understanding of our relationships.Continue reading “All We Need is Love, But What IS Love??”→

The atmosphere in the world today has made it very easy to experience hopelessness and peacelessness. With the structures of religion being questioned, taken advantage of, or just downright crumbling, and with the crusade of science unwittingly stirring towards physicality, materialism, and individualism, it’s no surprise that many today experience storms of negativity. Continue reading “What the World Needs Most Today”→

This post is dedicated not just to fathers, but to all men. Women these days get most of the attention, and for good reason of course, but on this special day, Father’s Day, I’d like to give a special shout out to all men, after all, Father’s Day isn’t only a celebration for dads but for men who have taken up the role of what it truly means to be a Man. Continue reading “Happy Father’s Day: A Must Read for All Men”→

Nowadays we see many posts about ‘peace, love, & happiness’, and although most of us are quite aware that these are the ultimate experiences one can aspire to, HOW to get there is actually where most of us get lost.

In celebration of International Women’s day and women’s month of March, this blog post is dedicated to women everywhere. If you’re a male who happens to read this, don’t go away quite yet, as this is also dedicated for you in recognition of how women fit into your life and their roles in your journey.